Any person who is engaged or hereafter engaged directly or indirectly in the sale or offer to sell a franchise or a subfranchise or in business dealings concerning a franchise, either in person or in any other form of communication, shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter, shall be amenable to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state and shall be amenable to the service of process under RCW 4.28.180, 4.28.185, and 19.86.160. Every applicant for registration of a franchise under this law (by other than a Washington corporation) shall file with the director in such form as he or she by rule prescribed, an irrevocable consent appointing the director or his or her successor in office to be his or her attorney, to receive service or any lawful process in any noncriminal suit, action, or proceeding against him or her or his or her successors, executor, or administrator which arises under this law or any rule or order hereunder after the consent has been filed, with the same force and validity as if served personally on the person filing consent. A person who has filed such a consent in connection with a previous registration under this law need not file another. Service may be made by leaving a copy of the process in the office of the director but it is not as effective unless:

Washington Code 19.100.010

Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.

offer to sell: includes every attempt or offer to dispose of or solicitation of an offer to buy a franchise or an interest in a franchise. See Washington Code 19.100.010

Person: means a natural person, corporation, partnership, trust, or other entity and in the case of an entity, it shall include any other entity which has a majority interest in such an entity or effectively controls such other entity as well as the individual officers, directors, and other persons in act of control of the activities of each such entity. See Washington Code 19.100.010

Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.

Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.

Subfranchise: means an agreement, express or implied, oral or written, by which a person pays or agrees to pay, directly or indirectly, a franchisor or affiliate for the right to grant, sell or negotiate the sale of a franchise. See Washington Code 19.100.010

(1) The plaintiff, who may be the director, in a suit, action, or proceeding instituted by him or her forthwith sends notice of the service and a copy of the process by registered or certified mail to the defendant or respondent at his or her last address on file with the director; and

(2) The plaintiff’s affidavit of compliance with this section is filed in the case on or before the return day of the process, if any, or within such further times the court allows.